Speaking at Northwestern University, President Obama highlighted what he said were clear improvements in the economy since he took office.Published OnOct. 2, 2014CreditCreditDoug Mills/The New York Times

EVANSTON, Ill. — President Obama, outlining a campaign message for his party a month before the midterm elections, used a visit to his home state on Thursday to highlight the country’s economic growth and to make his case on a handful of issues that are important to Democrats in November.

“I am not on the ballot this fall,” Mr. Obama said in an address at Northwestern University here. “But make no mistake, these policies are on the ballot. Every single one of them.”

The president argued that the issues he was highlighting — raising the minimum wage, ensuring equal pay for women and requiring paid family leave for workers — would help the economy. But the speech was also intended to help Democratic candidates who are nervous about their prospects and have been eager for Mr. Obama to frame their arguments against the Republicans on a national stage.

Mr. Obama has been focused for months on foreign policy, particularly the fight against the militants of the Islamic State, and his speech on Thursday signified his return to the domestic political fray.

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Members of the Secret Service guarded the stage as President Obama spoke at Northwestern University during a visit to his home state on Thursday.CreditDoug Mills/The New York Times

“Obviously, recent months have seen their fair share of turmoil around the globe,” he said.

He cast the United States’ central role in international crises in upbeat terms, using muscular language to reassure voters at a turbulent moment in history, a time of terrorist beheadings, the arrival of the Ebola virus on America’s shores and the controversy over the Secret Service’s ability to keep the White House, and the president, safe.

“When alarms go off somewhere in the world, this is who the world calls — America,” the president said in a speech that lasted a little less than an hour. “They don’t call Moscow. They don’t call Beijing. They call us. We welcome that responsibility and leadership. That’s who we are.”

But Mr. Obama’s focus on Thursday was on the economy, recounting, as he often has, the country’s comeback from the Great Recession.

“What I want people to know is that there are some really good things happening in America,” he said, ticking off progress in energy self-sufficiency, manufacturing numbers, health care costs and other areas. He portrayed Republicans as consumed with tax cuts for the wealthy rather than the middle-class, reflecting the two parties’ “starkly different visions for this country.”

Republicans derided the event as a political ploy. “Thirty-three days before the midterm elections, President Obama is very transparently trying to refocus his party as their approval ratings continue to plummet, but he isn’t fooling anyone,” said Kirsten Kukowski, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee.

Mr. Obama made only a halfhearted attempt at denying that his return home to the Chicago area was aimed at rallying Democrats. “I’m not going to tell you who to vote for, although I suppose it’s kind of implied,” he said to laughter.

Later, in a speech in Washington, Mr. Obama sought to energize Hispanic voters even as he acknowledged his failure to change the nation’s immigration laws. “I know there’s deep frustration in many communities around the country right now, and I understand that frustration because I share it,” he said at a dinner hosted by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. “I am not going to give up this fight until it gets done.”

Mr. Obama promised to take executive action to fix the immigration system before the end of the year. He had vowed to do so by summer’s end, but said last month that he would wait, a decision that was criticized as a political maneuver.

During his Illinois visit, Mr. Obama was welcomed by the state’s top Democratic officials, unlike in states where his popularity has sagged. The president was joined in Evanston by Senator Richard Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, and Gov. Pat Quinn, both of whom are up for re-election next month.

Mr. Obama, after spending Wednesday night in his own home on Chicago’s South Side, began the day at a $50,000-per-person fund-raiser for Mr. Quinn that was attended by about 25 people — but no reporters — in a high-rise overlooking Lake Michigan on the city’s Gold Coast.

Mr. Quinn said the president praised his grit, a welcome endorsement for a governor whose approval ratings are low and who is facing a difficult campaign against a businessman, Bruce Rauner.

“He likes the fact that I’m a ‘grinder,’ ” Mr. Quinn said in an interview.

Mr. Obama remains popular here among core Democratic constituencies, and Mr. Quinn is unapologetic in his embrace of the president. “It’s an immense help to have him here,” said Mr. Quinn, adding that he hoped Mr. Obama would return for a campaign rally before Nov. 4.

Mr. Durbin, who is not expected to face much difficulty at the polls, said much the same.

“If we can narrow this down and focus on the economy and its future,” he said, “we’ll have a better chance of winning.”

Julie Hirschfeld Davis contributed reporting from Washington.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A16 of the New York edition with the headline: In Illinois Speech, Obama Trumpets Economic Success as Midterm Vote Nears. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe